Monofloral Honeys

Monofloral honeys are a premium product in the market due to their distinct taste, fragrance and flavour as they are predominantly from one single nectar source. The taste spectrum of monofloral honeys range from bitter to sweet and texture from clear to creamy. Similar to wine, the colour, taste and texture can differ slightly from year to year even from the same location and beekeeper.

We have chosen a range of New Zealand native nectar sources to compile our wonderful range. A distillation of the very essence of natural New Zealand!

Clover

Clover honey is produced throughout most of New Zealand, but the South Island and Canterbury, Otago and Southland provinces in particular, are the prime areas of quality clover production. Clover honey is light in colour with a delicate floral bouquet and flavour. It is offered in both creamed and liquid forms providing both the ease of use for sweetening drinks, baking, etc. with liquid and the thick creamy texture for use as a spread. For more detailed information:

Quality While many honeys are offered as clover, making sure the product is light in colour and has a high clover pollen representation will avoid disappointments. Airborne's clover honey has this information printed on the back label to assure our customers of our product's integrity.

Manuka

Manuka is found throughout New Zealand and often forms extensive areas of bush. The leaves are dotted with oil glands, and when bruised give off a gingery peppery smell. The flowers vary from brilliant white through to rose-pink.

The Maori people used Manuka as a medicinal plant, from treating fevers and colds to sedatives and early European settlers called it the "tea tree".

A delicious blend of characteristic manuka honey and wildflowers that include rewarewa, clover, kamahi and tawari. Some people find that manuka is too strong a flavour for their preference but still want a dark flavoursome honey. Manuka with Wildflower is just that product.

Rata

Southern Rata is one of several species of Rata found in New Zealand but is the one that most regularly produces a honey crop, although even this honey is sometimes in very short supply. Anyone who has seen the Rata flowering in January in the Otira Gorge west of Christchurch cannot forget the sight of this brilliant red carpet covering the mountains. This area produces the purest Rata honey, very white in colour with a subtle, distinctive flavour, mild and rich - but not sweet, almost salty, considered by many to be the best of New Zealand Honeys. For more detailed information:

Vipers Bugloss

Also commonly known as "Borage", this wild flower covers the hills of the Central South Island in a sea of brilliant blue colour during summer months. The seed, resembling a Viper's head, was once mistakenly used as a treatment for snakebite giving the plant its unusual name. Vipers Bugloss honey has a delicate flavour with a "chewy" texture. Hint: keep this in the refrigerator and you have a natural chewy snack for kids of all ages. For more detailed information:

Nodding Thistle

Found extensively throughout New Zealand's Canterbury and Otago Provinces in the South Island, and Hawkes Bay in the North Island, Nodding Thistle flowers in late summer with a brilliant large mauve head characteristic of thistles to produce a magnificent light coloured honey with a perfumed floral bouquet and subtle flavour - perfect for those who like a mild honey. A winner of the US Fancy Food Show "Best new Spread". Unfortunately changing farming practices in New Zealand have decreased the Nodding Thistle resource such that supply of this wonderful honey is extremely limited and has failed in many of the past few years. For more detailed information:

Kamahi

Kamahi is a common tree found in many of New Zealand's rugged native forests, and is an excellent source of honey. The creamy coloured flowers are very attractive to bees and bloom in abundance throughout the Spring producing a light amber honey with a distinctive, full-bodied complexity of flavour preferred by many honey connoisseurs. For more detailed information:

Honeydew

Honeydew nectar is produced from a small scale insect (Ultracoelostoma assimilie) living in the bark of two of New Zealand's beech forests, mostly black beech (black from the sooty mould growing on the surplus nectar covering the trunks and branches) and to a lesser extent, red beech. In the early morning sunlight, the droplets of nectar glisten like the the morning dew, giving the name honeydew. Honeybees gather this nectar to produce honeydew, a process they carry out in many other countries in the World, most notably in Germany's "Black Forest".

A full flavour and aroma, heady, almost pungent, malty. A thick red amber honey and one of our strongest flavoured. Great in marinades to give a richness to barbecues or roasts. Full of mineral goodness, a typical trait of honeydews. For more detailed information:

Tawari

The 'Beaujolais' of honeys, Tawari is best savoured when young. It's origins are the lowland forests of New Zealand's far north where the elegant tree's waxy white flowers prized by ancient Maori gift the bees a light yellow nectar with a lingering butterscotch flavour. So subtle and mild, it's perfect for topping pancakes, waffles or icecream. For more detailed information:

Rewarewa

Rich and malty, this honey is full bodied yet not overly strong and has a beautiful burnished amber hue. And because the distinctive clustered red flowers of this New Zealand Honey suckle may not bloom well each year, Rewarewa is a premium variety. A hint of rustic woolsheds pervades the complex aroma. Rewarewa is a great natural sweetener for hot drinks. For more detailed information:

Thyme

With a heritage dating back to the ancient tribes who cultivated the arid, unforgiving soils of the Mediterranean, Thyme continues to flourish today across Central Otago's similarly challenging environment. Its burnt grass colouring so aptly reflects the surrounding landscape. An intensely aromatic honey, the pale Thyme flowers imbue it with lingering, herby, savoury flavours enjoyed by the experienced honey connoisseur. For more detailed information: